Fire effects on post-invasion spread of Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) in wet pine flatwood ecosystems in the southeastern United States

Abstract Prescribed fire has been increasingly used in restoring endangered slash pine (Pinus elliottii) flatwood ecosystems in the southeastern United States. We collected overstory and understory data to study the impact of fire on the post-invasion spread of Chinese tallow tree (Triadica sebifera) in a wet slash pine flatwood in the Grand Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Mississippi, USA. A total of 70 contiguous 30-m2 quadrats were installed and measured prior to fire (2018) and remeasured post-fire (2019 and 2020) to study the spatial distribution of the tallow soil seedbank and seedling recruitment. In addition, the same data were collected around 11 randomly selected tallow seed trees with varying burn intensities (estimated by stem-bark char heights) to evaluate the changes in seedling recruitment and survial by burn intensity. Soil tallow seedbanks around seed trees (427.7 ± 43.9 seeds m−2) were significantly greater than elsewhere (34.6 ± 13.2 seeds m−2) (p